Letters to the Editor for Sept. 4, 2013

Tuesday

Sep 3, 2013 at 9:26 PM

Star-Banner readers share their thoughts on education, Syria and U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent.

Education experts

I never see a letter to the editor telling a baker or a welder how to do their job. So why is it I see so many editorials and letters to the editor from people who are not in education telling the education system how to better themselves?

I read how teachers should be able to handle more students or virtual school will solve some of our problems by people who have other careers.

I wish everyone who has an opinion about how we should run education could take over a class for a week and see how challenging it really is. I would even like to invite Gov. Rick Scott to sub for my class — though please do not be shocked by some of my ESE students. Sometimes I think I hear more bad words in a day than watching “Scarface.”

Regardless of what they say, many students are in great need of a caring individual who wants to see them all succeed.

I guess everyone thinks they are an expert because they went to school. (And many are successful in our community and never took the FCAT! Amazing!) So please, instead of telling the education system what to do, ask what you can do to help make it better.

Daniel Geer

Ocala

The Syria mistake

Our government has lost wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. We are now batting 1.000. Why not try for another loss in Syria?

Our government has spent billions and billions of dollars destroying countries then rebuilding them, while our country goes down the tube.

I am not an Obama supporter, however, I can’t understand why we can’t give 300 million legal residents the health coverage they need, BUT we can send billions of support aid to foreign countries who hate us and want to kill us.

We have 545 idiots running this country.

Rudy Schasel

Ocala

God and Country praise

Congratulations to the Townleys — they know how to honor their employees and community on Labor Day weekend!

The God and Country Day celebration was well planned, from using buses to avoid congestion, having first-aid facilities, covered areas with seating, golf carts ready to help, plenty of drinks/snowcones/sandwiches/corn available, activities for children, and top-notch speakers and entertainers. This must have taken a lot of coordination and received a positive response from us, the residents of Ocala and surrounding areas.

This celebration was a happy memory for many, and we welcome it back. Thank you, Townley family for honoring our God and country.

Elsie Hamrick

Ocala

Nugent’s oversight

U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent missed a wonderful opportunity when he declined his invitation to an immigration rally held Aug. 24 in Marion Oaks. There was no one representing his office, and so he did not get to see or hear the stories that his constituents wanted to share regarding the need for immigration reform and how that affects the Florida economy.

Nevertheless, the gathering of friends and neighbors continued with a heartfelt remembrance of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and it was clear to all that the connection of his dream is strongly connected to the “dreamers” of the current immigration movement.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Nugent didn’t realize that the residents who came to his town hall meeting were carrying the message forward from that gathering in Marion Oaks and represented more than those actually in attendance.

The ones of us who could take off from our jobs came to ask him about his stance on immigration reform and were ridiculed in public. Mr. Nugent did little to defend the rights of those who represented this issue, and in his silence, condoned the abuse suffered at the hands of his conservative supporters. We expect more from our representatives.

Marihelen Wheeler

Gainesville

Home mortgage woes

Here’s a simple solution to a perplexing housing problem:

Make all mortgages “assumable” where the owner’s mortgage vs. the market value is 30 percent lower than the current balance of the mortgage outstanding.

Allow all these mortgages to be refinanced to lower rates.

Extend the mortgages from 30 to 40 years, which will lower the monthly mortgage payment even further. Mortgage holders will benefit by continuing to accrue interest. The result: Despite a high balance outstanding, the actual monthly mortgage payment would drop, thus making these homes very desirable and very affordable.

The key is the assumable feature.

I believe such a strategy would invigorate the resale of millions of homes currently hopelessly “under water.” Assumable mortgages allow the buyer to simply make a cash offer to buy the home.

Charles J. Piazza

Ocala

The Republican agenda

It’s inconceivable that the Republicans would shut down the federal government to defund “Obamacare” because of their hatred of our president. They would also deny more than 30 million Americans health care. It is no wonder that the states with the highest percentage of people without health insurance, Texas and Florida, are run by Republicans. What else are Republicans against?